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Legal basis

In accordance with Article 53(1) point 7 of the Act of 13 June 2003 on foreigners (Dz. U. of 2006, No. 234, item 1694, as amended), residence permit for a specified period of time is granted to a foreigner, who as a family member of a foreigner referred to in Article 54, resides on Polish territory or resides on that territory for the purpose of family reunification, if the circumstance, which is the basis for applying for this permit, justifies his residence on Polish territory for a period longer than 3 months.

Authority issuing decision

The decision on granting residence permit for a specified period of time is issued by a voivode competent with respect to the place of residence of a foreigner.  A foreigner residing abroad shall submit an application for a residence permit for a specified period of time through a consul to a voivode competent with respect to the intended place of residence.  Application for granting a residence permit for a specified period of time shall be made on a form.  

Documents

A foreigner is obliged to:  present a valid travel document, justify the application and attach to the application:

• 1)4 recent photographs - undamaged, in colour, measuring 35 x 45 mm, made in the past 6 months on a plain bright background, with good focus and clearly showing the eyes and face from the top of the head to the top of the shoulders, so that face occupies 70 -80% of a photograph; photographs are to show the person without headgear and dark glasses, looking straight ahead with eyes open, not covered by hair, with natural expression and closed mouth;
• 2)documents necessary to confirm the data contained in the application and circumstances justifying application for a residence permit for a specified period of time;
• 3)proof of payment of stamp duty;
• 4)documents confirming health insurance coverage within the meaning of provisions on health care services financed from public funds, or confirmation by the insurer of covering treatment costs in the Republic of Poland;
• 5)documents confirming stable and regular source of income sufficient to cover costs of living of a foreigner and dependent family members. More

In accordance with Article 53b(5) of the Act on foreigners, income referred to in paragraph 1 point 2, after deducting the costs of accommodation, per each family member dependent on the foreigner or per foreigner, when he is a single person, must be higher than the amount of income for which cash benefits from social assistance are granted under the Act of 12 March 2004 on social assistance (Dz. U. of 2008, No. 115, item 728).  According to Article 8(1) point 1 of the Act on social assistance, in connection with Article 1 point 1 (a) of the Ordinance of the Council of Ministers of 24 July 2006 on the revised income criteria and the amounts of cash benefits from social assistance (Dz. U. No. 135, item 950), people in one person households, whose income does not exceed PLN 477 and people in families whose income does not exceed PLN 351 are entitled to cash benefits from social assistance, subject to Articles 40, 41, 78 and 91.

Article 53b(5a) of the Act on foreigners provides that the cost of accommodation referred to in paragraph 5, includes at least the amount of fixed charges associated with the use of the occupied apartment per the number of people living in it, and also charges for electricity, gas, water and disposal of sewage, waste and liquid waste.

Except that, in accordance with Article 8(3) of the Act on social assistance, the income shall be the sum of monthly revenue from the month preceding the submission of the application, or in case of loss of income, from the month in which the application was submitted, regardless of the title and source of acquisition, unless the law provides otherwise, reduced by:

  1)  monthly income tax burden on individuals;

  2)  health insurance premiums specified in the regulations on general insurance in the National Health Fund and social insurance specified in separate regulations;

  3)  the amount alimony provided to others.

• 6)legal title to occupy an apartment in which he resides or intends to reside. The legal title to the occupied apartment in which the foreigner resides or intends to reside, shall not be the property lending agreement, unless the lender is his descendant, ascendant or spouse, parents of the spouse or sibling of the foreigner.

The family member of the foreigner shall be:

• 1) a person married to him in marriage recognized by Polish law;
• 2) young child of a foreigner and a person married to him in marriage recognized by Polish law, including an adopted child;
• 3) young child of a foreigner, including an adopted child, dependent on him, over which the foreigner has parental custody;
• 4) young child of a person referred to in point 1, including an adopted child, dependent on this person, over which the person exercises actual parental custody;
• 5) a family member of a minor foreigner, who has a refugee status, residing in the territory of the Republic of Poland without custody, is also a direct ascendant.

In accordance with Article 54 of the Act on foreigners, a residence permit for a specified period of time for the purpose of family reunion shall be granted to a family member of a foreigner residing in the territory of the Republic of Poland:

• 1) on the basis of a permit to settle;
• 2) on the basis of a residence permit for EC long-term resident;
• 3) who has a refugee status;
• 4) in connection with the granting of subsidiary protection;
• 5) at least 2 years on the basis of residence permits for a specified period of time, including immediately before the submission of an application for a residence permit for a specified period of time for a family member - on the basis of permit issued for the period of stay not shorter than one year;
• 6) on the basis of residence permit for a specified period of time referred to in Article 53(1) points 17 and 18.

Additional requirements concerning the application

A foreigner is obliged to submit an application for a residence permit for a specified period of time to the voivode competent for the place of residence within a period of at least 45 days before the expiry of the period of stay specified in the owned visa or before the expiry of the previous residence permit for a specified period of time.  

If the deadline for submission of the application has been preserved and the application does not contain any formal defects or they have been completed on time, the voivode shall put a stamp in the foreigner's travel document, which confirms submission of the application.  Stay of a foreigner in this period is considered legal until a final decision is made in the case.   More

Placing a stamp in the travel document of a foreigner, under Article 61(2a) of the Act of 13 June 2003 on foreigners, is not equivalent to issuing a visa or a document authorising a foreigner to stay on Polish territory and authorising to travel within the territory of other Schengen countries. 

            Placing the stamp in the travel document only confirms the submission of the application for granting a residence permit within deadline.

The legality of the foreigner's stay on Polish territory during the procedure for granting permit to stay follows from the law and is related to the fact of effective and timely submission of the application for granting permit to stay. 

A travel document with a stamp mentioned above will make it more likely that the stay of a foreigner on Polish territory is lawful, in accordance with Article 61(3) of the Act on foreigners.

A foreigner who has the above mentioned stamp in the travel document may leave Polish territory (going to the country where he has the right of entry), but if he is subject to a visa requirement, he should obtain a visa to enter and stay on Polish territory or a permit to stay issued by another State of the Schengen area, in order to re-enter Polish territory.  

If the application has been submitted less than 45 days before the expiry of the period of stay under visa or the period for which previous residence permit for a specified period of time was granted, and the proceedings were not completed before the expiry of the permit, the foreigner must leave the territory of the Republic of Poland and await the decision abroad.  

Appeal procedure

The party dissatisfied with the decision of first instance authority shall have the right to apply, within the statutory period of 14 days from the date of notification of the decision, against the decision to the authority of a higher degree, which for the above mentioned cases is the Head of the Office for Foreigners.  In turn, the party can lodge a complaint to the administrative court against the decision of the authority of second instance, through this authority, within 30 days of notification of the decision, and the court exercises judicial review of the performance of public administration in terms of compliance with the law.

The period for which the residence permit for a specified period of time is granted

The foreigner referred to in Article 53(1) point 7 of the Act on foreigners is given a residence permit for a specified period of time, for the period until the date for which a residence permit for a specified period of time was granted to a foreigner, to which he intends to come or came to be reunited with his family, and if the foreigner holds a permit to settle, a residence permit for EC long-term resident or a refugee status granted in the Republic of Poland - for a period of 2 years.

Stamp duty

 Stamp duty of PLN 340 is collected for issuing a residence permit for a specified period of time.  A fee of PLN 50 is collected for issuing a residence card.